Inside the Most Advanced Titanium Factory: ORA Engineering

ORA is one of the best metal bike manufacturers in the world. Digital process, in-house tube butting, 30 years of experience. They make some of the best titanium frames on the market. ORA helped me solve a mystery that has been haunting me: How are bike tubes actually made?

00:00 INTRO
00:38 CNC AREA
01:29 TUBE BUTTING
03:13 HOW TUBES ARE BUTTED
04:13 MANDREL
05:55 HEAT TREATMENT
06:44 LUNCH BREAK
07:12 BENDING
07:40 FORMING
08:18 MITERING
08:51 FLAT MOUNT
09:20 FIXTURING
10:03 WELDING
11:04 ALLIGNMENT
11:26 DIGITAL QC
12:10 FINISHING
13:01 AGNES INTERVIEW
13:32 ORA HISTORY
15:06 DIGITAL SYSTEMS
15:55 MAKING WORKER LIVES EASIER
17:27 GONG HAO - BETTER TOGHETER
19:59 CONCLUSION

[Agneshsu-an]

Let me finish the third reason…I just found this missing..

The third reason we do CNC in-house is to support new brands or customers who want to start their own titanium bike designs.
Trying something new can be very expensive, but by offering CNC services in-house, we make it easier for them to bring their unique design ideas to life. Our goal is to strike a balance between cost and creativity, which is one of the most important reasons we keep this process internal.

And thanks all the feedback to ORA, and big thanks for Daniel.

[BenRasmussen-cu]

I know about this process from when I worked at Louisville Slugger, I was the engineer designing aluminum bats and all the tooling .I also designed the tooling to do the ironing, which they call "budding".

[remek_ember]

I'm genuinely impressed. Wire EDM mitering, full in house tube processing and parts manufacturing, and that digital QC table, wow.

[Daniel_Yang_ARTEFACT]

Big thanks to ORA, they took out the full day to let me film this video. What was the most impressive part? For me, it was the heat treating 05:55. I didn't realize you had to heat treat titanium in between every step. It's got to be really expensive.

[TheBikeSauce]

Dude, that was the best video yet. Thx!

[UWMailing]

The transparency they showed, letting you film so much of their process is quite amazing. They're obviously (quite rightly) very proud of what they do. I was particularly impressed by their CNC capability. They are running what appears to be a LOT of machines. Very cool.

Btw, I see some people in the comments complaining about the background music. Tbh, I didn't even notice it. I was too busy listening to your conversation with Agnes, and taking in all the details of the facility and the machines, to notice the music but hey, maybe that's just me.

Thanks ORA!

[ogirio]

Hi Daniel. I was made aware of you and your bikes by hardtail party. It's so funny that I am watching from my home in India, a random guy from USA doing a bike factory tour in Taiwan and nerding out about metal pipes.

I love the internet for this and love seeing passionate people do what they love.

All the best for the future and I liked the classical music you added in the video.

[thebikegnome]

thank you ORA for building my Salsa Timberjack TI !

[ec]

This was super interesting! I had no idea how making butted tubes works, so that was neat, and I love the “better together” philosophy for how they work with customers and treat their employees!

[jayalanlife]

Agnes is wonderful, I am extremely impressed with her communication, a natural fit for YouTube 🎉

[zap...]

I ride an ORA made titanium frame. I was very impressed with the quality of the frame when I received it. I was shocked and amazed. Thank you ORA! gong hao!

[Mechanixscott]

The manufacturing process is a work of art. Very impressive.

[leslieyoung]

Thanks ORA! This is the kind of business and these are the kind of people we all love and want to support. Thank you Daniel for your time and effort in making these informative and enjoyable videos that gives us a look under the covers of how fine bicycles are made in Taiwan. I think your videos finally blow apart misconceptions about Asian made bikes and demonstrate craftsmanship to rival or exceed any in the world. Your young technical engineer approach with a dash of goofiness make me look forward to your next. Thanks again!

[tomanderson]

Thank you Ora and Daniel!!
That was an amazing behind the scenes, so impressed with not just the bikes, but the culture of Gong hao…truly respect worthy, our world needs more Gong Hao🙏🙏🙏

I love her laugh, So much joy! Agnes is a wonderful human being. Please let her know she and everyone at Ora are deeply appreciated and valued.

[whiteryanc]

Love it as usual. In this current moment of time in which much of the population of the US lives in complete ignorance of how things are manufactured (and they have long-developed expertise of certain regions), it's great to have things to pass around to enlighten people.

[WadeBeauchamp-ke]

Thanks Ora! And thank you Daniel for sharing this! I was so pleased to learn about Gong Hau.

[cameronbracken]

Thanks Ora Thanks Daniel Was a real pleasure to get a factory tour and a glimpse of a nice management style

[amitkumar-wjgn]

Bro, finally watching a video when I am not stoned. I just love, love your content. I wish I could order a frame from you, but the import costs will be mad from the US to India. So the least I can do is watch every video of yours (and yes, I have seen everyone) and like and comment. Cheers and thank you keeping it real and honest. May you make many, many more videos.

[awetmore]

Thanks Ora and Daniel. I’m a hobbyist builder and have been around frame building for 25 years, and the work here is really impressive. I loved seeing the butting mandrels, thanks for highlighting that.

I live close to Rodriguez Cycles in Seattle and my visits there always remind me of how efficient a well designed shop with a handful of employees can be compared to the average small framebuilder setup. This video shows another massive leap in capabilities.

[marekbialik]

Thanks Daniel and ORA for the video, keep going :)